British Literature in Transition, 1900–1920: A New Age?

This book shows how early twentieth-century British literature responded to the uncertainties of a rapidly changing world.

James Purdon (Edited by)

9781108491754, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 December 2021

416 pages
23.4 x 15.8 x 3 cm, 0.72 kg

'Purdon leaves no stone unturned in his comprehensive exploration of the age … Recommended.' A. P. Pennino, Choice

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, Britain's imperial power and influence was at its height. These were years of daring, when adventurers sounded the mysteries of the deep sea and the distant poles, aviators sped through the skies, and new media technologies transformed communication. They were years of social upheaval, during which long-suppressed voices – particularly those of women, of the labouring classes, and of colonial subjects – grew louder and demanded to be heard. They were years of violence, of insurrection and political agitation, and of imperial conflicts that would encompass continents. By subjecting specific developments in literature and related culture to a fine-grained and historically-informed analysis, British Literature in Transition, 1900–1920: A New Age? explores the writing of this extraordinary period in all its complexity and vibrancy.

Introduction James Purdon
Part I. Nation and Empire: 1. Aliens Robbie Moore
2. Oceanic States: Modernism, Imperialism, and the Sea Matthew P. M. Kerr
3. Passage Work: The Rise of 'English'? Helen Thaventhiran
4. Anglo-Irish Transitions Andrew Murphy
5. British War Writing: Empire, Mass Warfare, and Mass Culture Andrew Frayn
6. Capturing Home: British First World War Poetry Guy Cuthbertson
Part II. Media: 7. Literature and Wartime Propaganda James Purdon
8. Black, White, and Read All Over: Mines, Mountains, and the Paysage Moralisé of the British Press Abbie Garrington
9. Notable Trials and Literary Realism Rex Ferguson
10. Literature and Telecommunication Richard Menke
11. Literature and Film Laura Marcus
Part III. Aesthetics: 12. Transitions, Turns: Centuries, Decadents, Modernists Vincent Sherry
13. Poetry and Transition Sean Pryor
14. Realism and Mass Politics Andrew Shail
15. Short Fiction David Trotter
16. Ideals of a Picture Gallery Claudia Tobin
Part IV. Society: 17. Pseudo-cities: Exhibitionary, Military, Cinematic George Potts
18. Ecological Points of View Andrew Kalaidjian
19. Gender, Biopolitics, Bildungsroman Charlotte Jones
20. Freudian Fiction or Wild Psycho-analysis?: Modernism, Psychoanalysis, and Popular Fiction Helen Tyson
21. The Economics of Generosity in Ford, Conrad, and Keynes Beci Carver.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH]